Gratinée à l’oignon - French onion soup

My quick soup of the day is a "gratinée à l’oignon" (French
onion soup). Easy to make, it needs only a few ingredients but a lot of care.

Your soup will be good (or not) if you manage to brown the onions the way they
should be: not burnt, but not under-coloured. The rest is just easy. So pay
attention to the first 15 min if you want to enjoy a good old french onion soup.

Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat,
with oil. Add the onions, cover them and let them cook over medium heat. They
have to caramelize (they have to become brown, not only golden, but not
burnt). This should take about 10 min. It is even good that they stick a bit. Stir
from time to time.

Add the flour and stir for a few seconds. Add the stock and
season to taste.You may add nutmeg just like I do although it's not really mentioned in any of the french cooking books I have. I just find it makes a perfect match with the onion-butter.

Onion cooking, a NON-TEFLON pan will give you better results in the browning process, unlike here (I only have a teflon-coated pan).

Let simmer for about 20 min. It needs to reduce and thicken a bit.

When you're ready to serve, preheat the grill. Toast the
slices of baguette with cheese generously spinkled over.

Place the grilled slice of baguette in a bowl, pour the soup
on the top.

Or if you are serving
in a bowl made of bread (I have made mine with leftover dough from my daily
bread, just like they do at Paul’s). just sprinkle cheese, place in under a
grill until golden brown.

For a step by step..please visit this website (in French but
the photos are self-explanatory).

Out of subject but here is my bread of the day: multi-cereal flour.

The bread-bowl, proofing

Multi-cereal bread

I have left 2/3 of the dough in the fridge for 3 days, I added a fresh 1/3 the same day. I must say this version gives amazing bread that stays chewy from the inside for 2 days minimum.

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About Author

I'm Nada, a London-based Moroccan food expert. I am a mother of two little boys who keeps my hands full. I lived in different places and that made me realize how I miss Moroccan food. I moved to write extensively about it and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and trying my family recipes as much as I enjoy writing them. You can also find me at tasteofmaroc.com where I publish authentic recipes and write about some cultural aspects of the Moroccan society.

Good to see you back!Well I discovered that at one of Paul restaurants (the French chain). It also helps thickening the soup because while eating, we get to carve the bowl more and there is more starch that ends in the spoon! yummy!

Hi Nada - I was already impressed with the soup itself and then I saw you even made the bread bowl yourself too?! Nice one :D I didn't make onion soup in so long... you're really motivating me to give it a try, and I just love the look of the bread bowl - SO crusty and delicious :)

About Me

I'm Nada, a London-based Moroccan food expert. I am a mother of two little boys who keeps my hands full. I lived in different places and that made me realize how I miss Moroccan food. I moved to write extensively about it and I hope you will enjoy reading my posts and trying my family recipes as much as I enjoy writing them. You can also find me at tasteofmaroc.com where I publish authentic recipes and write about some cultural aspects of the Moroccan society.